The European Commission (EC) and the Austrian Presidency of the Council hosted the European Union 2018 Export Control Forum in Brussels. This year, the Export Control Forum focused on identifying new emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and smart ledger technology and discussing how legislation should change to allow authorities to impose controls when and where needed.

Two people and three companies that conspired to illegally ship web monitoring and controlling equipment to Syria were denied export privileges by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) last month. The items in question are controlled by the Commerce Department for security and anti-terrorism purposes.

Falcon/ FIMCO, an Iranian instrumentation and machinery company, pleaded guilty to the export violation of “conspiracy to evade export licensing requirements” late last month. The company attempted to smuggle a machine with military and civilian applications from the U.S. to Iran, in conjunction with Hetran, Inc., also charged for their involvement.

Last month, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Moscow admitted that he was a part of network designed to smuggle approximately $65 million worth of electrical components from the U.S. to Russia. He has been charged with several export violations, including “one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to smuggle electronics from the United States, and one count conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA).”

Al-Naser Airlines, a charter airline based in Iraq, along with Bahar Safwa General Trading and Ali Abdullah Alhay, have had their U.S. export privileges revoked for attempting to export civilian aircrafts into Iran. Additionally, Al-Naser Airlines, along with Syrian businessman Issam Shammout and Sky Blue Aviation, has been added to the terrorist list under Executive Order 13224 for providing “financial, material and technological support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corpos-Qods Force.”

Pavel Flider, a Russian national and naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested last month for illegally smuggling electrical components from the United States to Russia as well as using laundered money to fund the operation. The items he smuggled had both civilian and military applications and are described as “controlled dual-use programmable computer chips capable of operating in austere environments.” Flider was indicted for Smuggling Goods, Conspiracy to Commit International Money Laundering, and Money Laundering in San Francisco on March 5th.

Hsien Tai Tsai, a Taiwanese businessman, was sentenced to 24 months in a federal prison last month by a U.S. judge for helping to export restricted machinery often used for weapons. He pleaded guilty to being involved in several commercial and financial transactions that undermined weapons of mass destruction sanctions. The judge gave him a lenient sentence for his crime because he assisted the government in its investigation. He was originally arrested in Estonia but was extradited to Illinois, where his trial took place.

Sihai Cheng, who also goes by Chun Hai Cheng and Alex Cheng, arrived at Logan Airport in Boston early last month to face federal charges of conspiring to export items that can be used in the production of nuclear weapons to Iran. He was extradited from the United Kingdom to the U.S., where he now faces a 10-count indictment including charges of conspiracy, illegal export of U.S. goods to Iran and smuggling.

Hetran Inc. and its CEO were sentenced by a judge earlier this month to pay a fine of $337,000 and sentenced to 12 months of probation for trying to smuggle machinery into Iran. The judge made both parties responsible for the payment. The judge also suspended a $500,000 fine to the Department of Commerce and allowed the CEO, Helmut Oertmann, to avoid 4 years in prison for cooperating with the investigation and pleading guilty to the crime.

Wind River Systems, a subsidiary of Intel Corporation, has agreed to pay a $750,000 civil penalty for unauthorized encryption exports. The Alameda, California, company was charged with selling encryption software products to foreign governments and organizations on the BIS Entity List, which requires specific license requirements to do business with those entities.